This week, an Arizona family received far more than they bargained for when they bought a Glo Worm toy for their daughter — only to find that it was stuffed with a sandwich bag full of illicit drugs.
According to a Facebook post by the Phoenix Police Department, the unlucky parents purchased the toy from a thrift store in El Mirage, Arizona. Before letting their daughter play with the toy, the parents cleaned and washed it only to discover the bag with more than 5,000 pills "believed to be fentanyl."
Police said the parents immediately called them after discovering the drugs and handed them over.
"Great job parents!" the Phoenix Police Department wrote on social media.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
The CDC named fentanyl the most dangerous drug in America — in 2016 alone, it caused more than 18,000 deaths. It's a synthetic opioid similar to morphine, but 50 to 100 times more potent, with a heroin-like effect.
Other common drugs can be laced with fentanyl without the user's knowledge — often leading to tragic and irreversible consequences. Less than a month ago, relationship therapist Dr. Laura Berman's 16-year-old son passed away from an overdose of fentanyl-laced Xanax.
The Phoenix Police Department also reminded the public to be sure to carefully inspect all pre-loved items for their own safety.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
After all, the use of innocent children's toys as a vessel for drugs isn't an entirely new phenomenon. In 2015, New Jersey mom Elizabeth Faidley ordered her daughter a $500, "handmade" mermaid baby doll from Etsy. But the doll's apparent creepiness wasn't its only problem — after Faidley took it to a doll hospital for a makeover, the employees found two ounces of cocaine in its head.
Further investigation determined that the Etsy shop was actually a cover-up for a drug smuggling operation, Faidley wrote in a viral Facebook post.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
